Co-Designing Sustainable Food Solutions: Early Learnings from Collaborations with New Orleans Restaurants and Food Organizations

Food systems in the United States reinforce and exacerbate diet-related health inequities where healthier and environmentally sustainable food consumption is hindered by economic and physical access, as well as social notions influencing food preferences. These issues are more pressing in poorer cities with histories of exclusion where minoritized communities bear the brunt of unjust food systems and their associated health consequences. Voices has been engaging black and Latin-owned restaurants, city agencies, business development, public health, and food organizations in New Orleans through workshops that apply participatory design approaches to collaboratively build a shared understanding of the barriers and facilitators for healthier and environmentally sustainable choices in restaurants and co-develop a path for equitable, feasible solutions.

About the lecturer

Dr. Melissa Fuster is a Food and Nutrition scholar visiting BC3 from Tulane University, New Orleans.  Her research examines the cultural and structural factors influencing food practices and the policies implemented to improve them including sustainable knowledge and policies. Her work applies a multidisciplinary approach to examine underlying determinants of diet-related health inequities.